Mozilla is working on Firefox multi-tab management

Mozilla is working on a new feature for the organization's Firefox web browser currently which adds multi-tab management capabilities to the browser.

Firefox does not support multi-tab operations right now; if you want to close, move or bookmark sites open in multiple tabs in the browser right now, you will have to do so one after the other.

The upcoming multi-tab management options enable you to run operations on several tabs at once in Firefox to make things more comfortable.

Firefox is not the first browser to support multiple tab selections and operations. The web browsers Vivaldi and Opera support multi-tab selections.

Firefox multi-tab management

Firefox users may use the Ctrl (Command on Mac) key on the keyboard to select multiple tabs in the browser once the feature lands. A right-click on the selection displays a context menu with options to run operations on all supported tabs.

The Shift-key is mapped to selecting a row of tabs, and users who prefer to use the mouse for that can right-click on the tab bar to pick the new entry " select all tabs" to do so.

Mozilla plans to unlock all tab operations for multiple tabs; in other words, you can close, pin, bookmark, send, or move the tab selection using the right-click context menu.

Mozilla plans to add a new "move tab" menu which you may use to move a single tab to the start or end of the current tab bar, or to a new window. Similarly, there will be a new close tab menu to close tabs to the right, close other tabs, or close duplicate tabs in the web browser.

The tab manager, the little down arrow icon located on the right-side of the tab bar, displays tab related operations and all open tabs in all browser windows as well.

Tab operations include muting all tabs, bookmarking or reloading tabs, or closing and undo closing tabs.

The functionality is not yet live in Firefox, not even in Nightly. Mozilla did add the main preference for the multi-tab management functionality of the Firefox browser though.

• Load about:config?filter=browser.tabs.multiselect in the Firefox address bar.
• Confirm that you are careful if the warning prompt is displayed.
• Double-click on the preference to set it to true.

A value of true enables the new feature, a value of false (default) disables it. The only effect setting the parameter to true has right now is that you can select multiple tabs in Firefox and that these tabs are displayed in bold.

Closing Words

Multi-tab management is a welcome feature in my opinion as it improves tab handling in the browser. While you may not need it if you work with less than a dozen tabs in Firefox all the time, users who work with multiples of that may appreciate the new functionality.